Drama

Against The Day, Michael Cronin

‘A World War Two thriller showing what life could have been like if

the Nazis had invaded Britain.’

Al Capone Does My Shirts, Gennifer Choldenko

‘12-year-old Moose Flanagan family moves to Alcatraz in the 1930s

when his dad takes a job as a prison guard.’

Bog Child, S. Dowd.

‘Digging for peat in the mountain with his Uncle Tally, Fergus finds

the body of a child, and it looks like she’s been murdered.’

Clay, David Almond

‘Davie and his best friend Geordie are forced to befriend a strange

new kid in town named Stephen.’

Face, Benjamin Zephaniah

‘Martin is a good-looking, self-assured boy who accepts a ride home from a drunken acquaintance and ends up in a horrible accident - badly burned, his face completely disfigured.’

Firestarter, Catherine Forde

‘When Reece moves in next door, Keith is worried. Reece is clearly trouble.’

I am the Cheese, Robert Cormier

‘Adam Farmer is on a journey - he has to get to Rutterburg with a parcel for his father. But as he travels, he starts to remember the events leading up to this point, memories which are also being prised out in gruelling psychiatric interviews.’

Private Peaceful, Michael Morpurgo

‘A stunning novel of the First World War, a boy who is on the front line, and a childhood remembered.’

Year 9-10 Reading List

Created by Laraib Khan, 13AML

River Boy, Tim Bowler

‘Fifteen-year-old Jess's grandfather has just had a major heart attack, but he insists he has to finish his painting.’

Shadows, Tim Bowler

‘Jamie does not share his father's single-minded ambition that he will be a world squash champion and is desperate to escape from the verbal and physical abuse that will follow when he fails.’

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, John Boyne

‘Berlin, 1942. When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move to a new house far, far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people in the distance.’

The Tulip Touch, Anne Fine

‘The story of a strange and disturbing friendship seen through the eyes of Natalie as she gets to know Tulip Pierce, a delinquent girl most others go out of their way to avoid.’

Witch Child, Celia Rees

‘Enter the world of young Mary Newbury, a world where simply being different can cost a person her life. Hidden until now in the pages of her diary, Mary's startling story begins in 1659, the year her beloved grandmother is hanged in the public square as a witch.’

1984, George Orwell

‘1984 is still the great modern classic of a ‘negative utopia’ - a startlingly original and haunting novel.’

Fantasy and Adventure

Across the Nightingale Floor, Lian Hearn ‘In his black-walled fortress at Inuyama, the warlord Lida Sadamu surveys his famous nightingale floor. Constructed with exquisite skill, it sings at the tread of each human foot. No assassin can cross it unheard.’ Alex Rider series, A. Horowitz ‘They told him his uncle died in an accident. He wasn't wearing his seatbelt, they said. But when fourteen-year-old Alex finds his uncle's windshield riddled with bullet holes, he knows it was no accident.’ Dragon Rider/ Inkheart, Cornelia Funke ‘With lonely Ben aboard, brave dragon Firedrake seeks a mythical place where silver dragons can live in peace.’ Eragon, Christopher Paolini ‘One boy. One dragon. A world of adventure.’ Lion Boy, Zizou Corder ‘Charlie is a young boy who is able to speak to cats (and all felines) due to an accident involving a leopard cub's blood when he was a baby.’ Mister Monday, Garth Nix ‘Arthur Penhaligon's first days at his new school don't go too well, particularly when a fiendish Mister Monday appears, gives Arthur a magical clock hand, and then orders his gang of dog-faced goons to chase Arthur around and get it back.’ Outcast: The Unmagician, Christopher Golden ‘Timothy is a freak, a weakling, an impossibility. He's the only person in existence without magical powers and has spent his entire life hidden on a remote island.’ Pendragon: The Merchant of Death, D.J. MacHale ‘Bobby Pendragon is a seemingly normal fourteen-year-old boy. He has a family, a home, and even Marley, his beloved dog. But there is something very special about Bobby. He is going to save the world.’ The Devil's Breath, David Gilman ‘When an assassin bursts from the shadows to try to kill him on the dark, windswept grounds of his boarding school in England, Max Gordon realises his life is about to change forever.’ The Medici Seal, Theresa Breslin ‘Fleeing from the murderous brigand Sandino, Matteo (a young boy) is saved from drowning by the companions of Leonardo da Vinci.’ Troll Fell, Katherine Langrish ‘A secret kingdom of trolls, and their legendary gold, lies in the mysterious shadows of Troll Fell.’

Thrilling reads

In The Blood (Calderdale Teenage Book Award) Lisa Unger

‘College senior Lana Granger has told so many lies about her

past that the truth seems like a distant, cloudy nightmare. But

she meets her match when she begins babysitting for a volatile,

manipulative eleven-year-old boy.’

Shadow of the Minotaur, Alan Gibbons

‘Phoenix, the son of a computer geek, creates a virtual reality

game that gets a bit too real.’

The Chocolate Wars, Robert Cormier

‘Jerry Renault ponders the question on the poster in his

locker: do I dare disturb the universe?’

The Ghost Behind the Wall, Melvin Burgess

‘David screamed and the ghostly boy opened his mouth and

screamed back. But his scream wasn’t the scream of a child—it

was the scream of an old, old man.

The Hand of the Devil, Dean Vincent Carter

Ashley Reeves is a young journalist at magazine Missing

Link. His future's bright, even if he does spend most of his time

investigating hoaxes. When he receives a letter promising him a

once-in-a-lifetime story, he jumps at the opportunity.’

The Tell-Tale Heart, Edgar Allan Poe

‘The unnamed narrator endeavours to convince the reader of his

sanity while describing a murder he committed.’

The Enemy, Charlie Higson

‘They’ll chase you. They’ll rip you open. They’ll feed on you. When

the sickness came, every parent, police officer, politician – every

adult – fell ill. The lucky ones died. The others are crazed,

confused and hungry. Only children under 14 remain, and they’re

fighting to survive.

Romance

Girls under Pressure, Jacqueline Wilson

Magda is tall and glamorous, Nadine is willowy and 'gothic' and Ellie, well, Ellie is just plain normal. The three girls have been best friends 'forever' but now, they are under pressure to change. Will they?

Noughts and Crosses, Malorie Blackman

Two young people are forced to make a stand in this thought-provoking look at racism and prejudice in an alternative society.

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”

The Fault in Our Stars, John Green

‘As he read, I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly,

and then all at once.’

Twilight, Stephenie Meyer

‘What if I’m not a superhero. What if I’m the bad guy?’

Carnegie Award-winning Books

Salt to the Sea, Ruta Sepetys (2017)

‘This inspirational novel is based on a true story from the

Second World War. When the German ship the Wilhelm

Gustloff was sunk in port in early 1945, it had over 9000

civilian refugees, including children, on board. Nearly all

were drowned. Sepetys brilliantly imagines their story.’

One, Sarah Crossan (2016)

‘Grace and Tippi are conjoined twins. And their lives are

about to change. No longer able to afford

homeschooling, they must venture into the world - a

world of stares, sneers and cruelty.’

Buffalo Soldier, Tanya Landman (2015)

‘Trapped in a world of injustice and inequality, it's only

when Charley is posted to Apache territory to fight

"savage Indians" that she begins to learn about who she

is and what it is to be truly free.’

The Bunker Diary, Kevin Brooks (2014)

‘16-year-old Linus Weems has woken up in a low-

ceilinged rectangular building, made entirely of

whitewashed concrete, with no windows and no doors.

The lift is the only way out. But this time when the lift

comes, it isn't empty.’

Maggot Moon, Sally Gardner (2013)

‘A ruthless regime is determined to beat its enemies in a

race to the moon. But when his best friend Hector is

suddenly taken away, it is up to unlikely hero Standish,

his grandfather, and a small band of rebels, to confront

and defeat the ever-present oppressive forces of the

Motherland.’

A Monster Calls, Patrick Ness (2012)

‘The monster shows up after midnight. It isn't the one

Conor has been expecting; the one from his nightmare;

the one he has had nearly every night since his mother

started her treatment. But this new monster is ancient,

and wild, and it wants something just as dangerous from

Conor: the truth.’

Monsters of Men, Patrick Ness